A Roll in the Universe

I know, I know. I said I don't do politics on this blog and really, I haven't changed my mind. But some things have been getting my attention lately, and they are politics-related, so here goes. First off, Gerald Ford . The only president I genuinely liked besides Ronald Reagan. I moved back to California the summer of '76 and it was an election year. Later, I read an excerpt from Ford's book "A Time to Heal", where he says that after Vietnam, Watergate, Chile, oil embargos, etc., he didn't think that it would do the country any good to drag it through a trial involving a former president. So he pardoned Nixon. What baffled Ford was how many people thought that meant Nixon was innocent. I, however, still in my teens, was highly impressed by Ford's thinking. I found him pragmatic and caring. Years later, after everything that had happened to his wife Betty, I came to admire him for standing by her, and to admire Betty for bringing both breast cancer a

Popular psychology has a number of tidbits on what can reveal your true self. Over at Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country I have now discovered that I have high self-esteem because I like murder mysteries with a surprise ending . Not that I feel smart when I read mysteries (I never solve them), but that's OK. The bit about why people enjoy mysteries versus suspense stories fits for me, too. I like a rich tapestry of possible culprits, and the best mystery writers offer up a number of logical suspects with ditto motives and opportunities. I have never thought that no human being is capable of killing. What makes a murder mystery interesting is the exploration of what it would take to make an otherwise intelligent, moral person take such a drastic step (murder mysteries involving a psychopath are no fun). Agatha Christie was good at pointing out that greed, jealousy, and revenge were the usual reasons. It's never more noble than that. But if they're good at covering the

Simplifying our lives does not mean sinking into idleness, but on the contrary, getting rid of the most subtle aspect of laziness: the one which makes us take on thousands of less important activities. — MATTHIEU RICARD Ah, yes, distractions. I can attest to that, that having myriad of things and choices tends to distract a body, cutting into time that could have been spent on projects that might leave a more satisfying feeling. You know, like when you've spent a little while surfing the internett - and then realize it's been hours, hours not spent doing something else. In other words, make sure you are in charge of your habits, not the other way around.

It's the second day of Christmas, which is a holiday in Norway, so I have nothing better to do than this (for now): Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed? Open. Unless I have guests. What was the weather like on your graduation day? Sunny and warm. I was living in Southern California at the time. What kind of winter coat do you own? One long black wool coat and a black lacquer one with a python-patterned faux fur lining. That last is waterproof and the one I wear the most. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people? Early this year some time, at some "vision meeting", reading my group's answers to the rest of the assembled co-workers. Where do you keep your change? Coin purse. Describe your keychains? My main one is a leather "coin purse" looking thing. What is your favorite flavor of jelly? Doesn't matter. Jelly never tastes as good as jam. Some things you are excited about? My cracked rib getting bet

The above animation of planets and stars to scale starts with our own planet Mercury and ends with the red supergiant Mu Cephei , also known as the Garnet Star - a very pretty name given it in honor of Sir William Herschel.

Today Bergen is warmer than Rome, reports our local newspaper , and tells us also that 2006 will be a year where Bergen breaks a number of old weather records: Never before have we not had a frost before Christmas; previous annual average temperature was 8,8C (47.8F), while 2006 can boast 9,3C (48.7F); we have had 56 continuous days of precipitation and will beat the record of 59 days from the winter of 1974/75 since rain is predicted for the rest of the year. Which brings me to the current joke making the rounds: A bad man had died and found himself in a very, very long line waiting to get into Hell. He observed that every so often, someone ahead of him in line did not enter the Gates of Hell and get thrown into the fire, but instead was tossed aside. After observing this for a while, he finally asked the fellow ahead of him why some were tossed aside. "Oh, those are people from Bergen," was the reply. "They don't burn." And that should tell you how bad it

Via Sravana : You Are a Dragon You are very charismatic and incredibly popular. People are drawn to your energy, but you are a very difficult person to get to know. You are very active - you are usually hard at work or play. You enjoy drama, and you enjoy anything unusual or eccentric. What Mythological Creature Are You?

Lifted via Paula : Pick up the nearest book, go to page 123, and post the sixth, seventh, and eighth sentences. I've seen this meme before but have never had a book besides my Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" close at hand, until now. "If you want it to be air, act as if it's air, breathe it. Try." Maybe it's something about the presence of an advanced soul, I thought. (Answer follows. Reveal by highlighting with mouse.) "Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah" by Richard Bach. The reluctant messiah is trying to explain how he can swim through dirt like it's water. Another earlier messiah chose to walk on water like it was dirt.

Norway's approach to technology involving embryos is cautious and conservative. Norway bans in vitro fertilization for anyone except married heterosexual couples, for example. Now, after a debate involving a family that wanted a second child so they could get bone marrow to help a sick existing child, Norway has now decided to allow for genetic testing of in vitro fertilized eggs before implanting - out of the country. It won't be done here. I have no particular opinion about the technology itself; my stance is one of a mix of admiration for the creativity and a bit of skepticism. Man will think of all kinds of things, good and bad, in the name of science or progress. What's making me write today, is a nagging feeling about the whole issue of having a new, healthy child, in order to harvest it for bone marrow to help a sick, older sibling. What does this sort of "rescue operation" say about loving all your children equally? Will the new child be loved for its ow

I can tell I'm well again. I'm stir-crazy and bored. I no longer want to rest up; I want to do something! Right now, I do have something to do: A task I must do every 6 weeks (it's actually 5 since I swapped with the neighbor, thinking I wouldn't be here during my week). Norwegian has a few words that are impossible to translate properly - not even into other Scandinavian languages. One is "koselig": The catch-all phrase for anything nice, whether it be a visit, a knick-knack, or chit-chat while in line. The other word is "dugnad", which is a type of volunteer work, but more akin to barn-raising than to candy-striping. It is the favorite word of co-ops everywhere. The joint property gets tended thanks to dugnad, or rather, a dugnad committee in charge of organizing said dugnad, which includes lawn mowing, hedge trimming and handrail painting. There are other tasks that are handled in the spirit of dugnad, like letting each condo owner repaint a b

I was told about RapidWeaver and decided to give it a try. I had fun figuring out how to customize an existing template and making photos to use for it. So my website is updated in appearance , if not in content.

Just have no mind on things and no things on mind, and you will naturally be empty and spiritual, tranquil and sublime. —TE-SHAN The above is wonderfully self-explanatory, though the word "empty" may confuse Western readers. Don't worry about that word. It may (or may not) become a bit clearer if you read about Te-Shan's role in Zen Buddhism .

Not sure what I did, but apparantly, my body is not happy with me getting all ready to be busy again. It therefore pulled a muscle or something in my ribs on Tuesday afternoon. Hah, says my body, that'll keep you from doing whatever with wild abandon! Fine. I apparantly need a longer rest than the virus is giving me (coughing's almost gone) and this how my body tells me. I've never injured my ribs before in any way so this is new. It makes coughing quite the challenge. I roll over onto the hurt side, press my arm into my ribs and that helps. If I don't, I get a sharp pain right under my boob. For some reason, I just don't feel like letting my doctor see my boob, so I'm going to let time take care of this. Nothing hurts unless I cough or do sidestretches or keep my arms in the air for longer than one shampooing, so I figure nothing's broken and that it's not a hernia. I'm one of those people who listens to her body and who has a body who will defi

I've been tagged by Hanne , a fellow Mac-user here in Norway, to admit to ten songs I'd rather the world didn't know I like. Thing is, I either don't have songs like that, or I've already admitted to them . Uhm, but if I dig a bit deeper, then I have to admit to liking so-called Christian rock. Hits me just right, like a Disney theme song or your typical "hit song" in a movie about a hit song. They are all basic major chord pop songs, much like the most popular entry to the Eurovision Song Contest . And I do have some songs that I like, but that I know are cheesy. So here are the 10 worst songs/artists I can think of admitting to owning and liking (in no particular order). There's Whole Lot Of Loving / Six Six voices, attractive clean-cut young people, G-rated lyrics, and very dancable major chord pop. No evergreen except in my ears. Loves Theme / Barry White (Love Unlimited Orchestra) I actually associate this song with travelling down the Mis

Yep, she's a virus , just a virus, a real bitch of a virus, but today my doctor caught her gathering boxes to pack stuff in. I'm on sick-leave till Friday, and that should do it. I'm looking forward to getting well again. I always say that when I get sick: Oh, boy, am I going to be happy and grateful when I get well! Truth is, I have plenty to be grateful for right now. I have a wonderfully well-functioning immune defense system. It has done everything right from the first moment Marsha moved in. It was recently reported by Science Magazine ( and in Norwegian ) that it is important to encourage a fever (not to the point of complications from fever, though), because it's the fever that kick-starts a number of other immune defense responses. Fever makes you lethargic and tired thus encouraging you to rest and not tax your system. The heat from the fever creates some changes that trigger and aide white blood cells. I can't remember if it's feed a fever, star

I've been home from work for a week now, with a virus named Marsha making me cough and ache. I've had plenty of time to be at the computer, to write, but the downside of being sick is that it shuts the brain down. My apologies to my readers. I need to get rid of my new roommate quickly. Marsha keeps me up nights (and she just may be keeping my neighbor up, too; walls are a bit thin).

This could be an infinitely long post, because there is no shortage of stupidity. But I can't help but wonder if the world isn't in fact dumber now than it used to be. This is what I've come across recently in forehead-slapping idiocy (the last three just today). I read this as a factual practical joke in a family. Now, I always thought that school, no matter how much it currently sucks, managed to teach kids that birds come from eggs. All birds hatch out of eggs. How can an adult not know this? Innumerable calls to some helpdesk stating the computer won't come on , and the call comes during a local power outage. Or: Customer: "If I unplug my computer, will it shut off?" That baffles me. We in the west have all been raised with electricity. We know that to get something working, it has to be plugged in and switched on. We know that things like lightning or electrical errors can knock out the power or a fuse and therefore electrical things won't work.

(A Vanity Fair Proust questionnaire I got via Paula , who answered far more tongue-in-cheek than I. No, I don't know what this has to do with Proust.) What is your idea of perfect happiness? - Believing it will remain perfect. What is your greatest fear? - Besides spiders, heights and cramped places? Not being missed. What historical figure do you most identify with? - Nixon. He screwed up the second time, and I tend(ed) to do that, too. Which living person do you most admire? - My boss. He's very kind and practical and supportive and has been very loyal to me. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? - Laziness. What trait do you most deplore in others? - Having a brain and refusing to use it, or having a heart and refusing to use it (often the two coincide). What is your greatest extravagance? - iTunes Store. On what occasion do you lie? - Never. I choose not to say anything if I can't say the truth. What do you most dislike about your appearance

Misery 1: Fever, sore throat, constant cough, and home from work since Monday (and staying home tomorrow, too). Also trying to get a hold of a doctor without having to take a bus or taxi someplace. I need a doctor's notice for work. Misery 2: Royal League match tonight here in town, on a soggy soccer field, in driving rain, with hardly anybody in the bleachers. They are definitely trying to play a game, and I am trying to watch, but I understand the lack of enthusiasm from both me and the soccer players. Misery 3: The joke is, it's time to start building an ark, because it's been raining for 40 days and 40 nights. Nothing like a nice bit of gallows humor while whole lakes form on fields and roads, and a coinciding high tide adds a nice touch by flooding Bryggen. Twice. Oh, hey, our team just scored! Heia, Brann! OK, a little less misery. UPDATE: Misery 4: The other team scored just a couple of minutes later. We won 3-2!!!

...but had that Brazilian tarantula done anything else besides walk across my palms, I would have freaked. As it was, her feet felt like tiny catpaws. So, how do you celebrate your birthday?

Most religions state that we are all one, united under God. Looking back on his home planet from space drove that point home to astronaut James Irwin . Even a good number of worldviews and world organizations say the same, though without the mention of a deity. I find the idea hard to grasp. Intellectually, I get it. I see that we all struggle with the same things, and are comforted by the same things. I see that we all have a responsibility to the planet we live on, so we can keep on living on it. But there is a spiritual side, an emotional side to this idea that tends to lie just out of reach of my understanding, so I can't consistently feel one with everybody else. I have started on a new book (audiobook version), "Light On Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom" by B.K.S. Iyengar with John J. Evans and Douglas Abrams. (Iyengar himself is on the cover with some of the longest eyebrows I've ever seen, and a wonderfully happy face.)

This year I really feel Christmassy. I usually root for the Grinch come Christmas, but this year I am feeling especially ready for the gaudiness and panic. I suspect it has to do with the weather. Bergen just had its second-wettest November ever (last year's was wetter) with a few other statistical notables: Warmer than average and not one day without precipitation. We're at December 3 and have had only one day of frost so far and that was November 2. The relentless "this would be summer if the trees had leaves" is making many of us long for the picture postcard version of this time of year. So, inspired by a tree I found, I changed my wallpaper to show snow, and went searching for lights and snow for my Mac desktop. (The snowflakes are animated.)

I once asked a Danish co-worker if he liked rømmegrøt (sour cream porridge) and he said no. Nor did he like lutefisk (lye fish), or some other Norwegian delicacies. "I don't eat spoiled food," he said. Human creativity never ceases to amaze me. Who figured out that live grubs, or whole-fried flying dog, or raw seal blubber, or deap-fried spiders were edible? Or that fish damaged by lye (as in being covered in ash after a warehouse fire) could be salvaged and turned into a delicacy that currently costs USD50 (inluding refills) at a restaurant? October to December is lutefisk-season. My department have an annual Christmas dinner at Bryggeloftet , a restaurant in the heart of Bergen that serves traditional Norwegian (and a few local) dishes, and does it very well. Some of us choose pinnekjøtt (literally: stick meat), salted and dried ribs of mutton, steamed over birch sticks (traditionally), served with mashed turnips and boiled potatoes, with akevitt and beer as th

Keep reading enough spiritual, metaphysical or even psychology books, and you'll find that love is indeed the answer. Today, thanks to a dispute between two of Norway's largest TV stations, I was reintroduced to the Beatles' song "All You Need Is Love". There is a lot of spiritual wisdom (and encouragement) in the lyrics: All You Need Is Love The Beatles (Lennon/McCartney) Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love. There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game It's easy. There's nothing you can make that can't be made. No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time It's easy. All you need is love, all you need is love, All you need is love, love, love is all you need. Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love. All you need is love, all you need is love, All you n

That's what it says on my Dove shampoo bottle: Respect and balance. Respect - an action. I admit I don't quite get "respect", what it means exactly, how to conjur it up automatically in myself. Generosity or gratitude seems easier. What I have observed about respect, though, is that it seems more universal than love because every living being recognizes it without fail. I have seen both animals and people with mental handicaps pull away when they were disrespected; they knew right away what was happening and didn't tolerate it. So what does that tell me about respect? That it's about not putting anyone else down, it's about not forcing your will or way onto someone else. It's all those good things: Listening well, being patient, having the attitude "live and let live", understanding that no-one else is exactly like you and still meeting the other as an equal. Respect is about acknowledging the rights of other living creatures to breathe the s

Last night I went to the local marine museum. Exhibits range from the viking era to today's highly computerized ships. One exhibit is dedicated to the World War 2 experiences of the Norwegian merchant marine, who were torpedoed by German submarines as early as September of 1939. My grandpa sailed on oil tankers in convoys across the Atlantic for 6 years. That's how he came to meet my grandma. She was invited to a party at the Norwegian seaman's church in Brooklyn (New York) and he had shore-leave and attended the party. A small poster hangs in the museum exhibit, telling of the importance of the convoys across the Atlantic. For me, it is also a reminder of romance.

My friend Sravana blogged about a talk given by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson . If you like good old-fashioned enthusiasm, you'll enjoy Tyson. What's making me post about it here, is Tyson's explanation for why we often feel so small, so insignificant. About 10.5 minutes into the film, Tyson mentions a letter from a psychologist whose job was to explore "the effects of things that make people feel small". In the letter, the psychologist stated that a show showing a zoom-out from earth had illicit just that feeling in him. Tyson thought this sounded wrong because when he looks up at the universe, he feels large. Then it occurred to him that the letter-writer's problem was that his ego was too large to begin with.

I have started a new blog today, Budding Yogini . Purpose: A blog dedicated to purely spiritual stuff. Not that my spiritual life is separate from the rest of my life, but I thought I'd gather spiritual and motivational statements that grab my attention in one place. I didn't look at any astrological chart before I started. My mood was "Let's do this" after thinking about it for months. Interestingly, the chart for my first post does have several contacts to my natal chart including MC conjuncting my Jupiter, Venus conjuncting my Sun, and Mars conjuncting my Mercury.

Welcome to the first post of my new blog. This blog will be dedicated to spiritual/philosophical musings. "Budding yogini" (a budding female practioner of yoga) is what my yoga instructor has called me. Why this second blog ? I have always had a philosophical bent, and a need for theism. I have always sought to understand the spiritual side of life. This past year, such things have gained focus for me, as my astrology has faded away. I've been subscribing to a Zen page-a-day calendar, and will be musing on quotes that have caught my fancy there. I will also be musing on other quotes, spiritual sayings and the like. That is what this blog is for. For things that make me go "Hmmm" or maybe even "Wow!". Or that motivate me to try something I haven't tried before. And I may even tell you how I and my downward-facing dog are doing.

Wednesday, we had a departmental meeting in what normally is our coffee break room, which boasts a sofa suite and a coffee table and photos on the walls from parties, company picnics and the like. Each of us has his or her own coffe cup or mug, usually scattered on the coffee table and reused each day (washing is up to the owner). Yesterday I discovered that my coffee mug was missing. Probably scooped up with the rest of the dishes from the meeting and sent to the employee cafeteria. It annoys me. It's just a mug. It's not even pretty; it is plain white sporting only the black text logo of a fungus insurance firm (I kid you not), but it was given to me by a very friendly representative of said firm when I was new at my company, over 20 years ago. And I get a secret kick out of drinking out of something that has "hussopp" (literally: house fungus) in big letters on it. But what I've come to realize really bothers me is that, in spite of that coffee mug being my

I suddenly realized that four posts in a row were me taking tests I knew I could pass with flying colors (i.e. I took them for the hell of it and got results I felt like sharing). So let's talk about tests, shall we? I don't always march to same beat as everyone else, so those of you who find finals hell on earth should stop reading now. I can honestly say that tests don't bother me. I like tests. Tests are fun. Tests can sometimes be frustrating right then and there, but I don't spend the night before a test studying for it, or tossing and turning in my sleep. A bit of nerves, perhaps, on the day itself, but once I've grabbed that #2 pencil (or these days, the mouse), I'm fine. In school, I discovered that if I did all my homework, I wouldn't have to cram for tests. I also discovered that my brain doesn't do cramming very well ("You want me to remember all this for the next 24 hours after ignoring it for 24 weeks? Yeah, right.") and since

Your Vocabulary Score: A Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person. How's Your Vocabulary? I don't much care for vocabulary tests because I don't really know a lot of five-syllable words, let alone their meaning. It turns out that there are some two-syllable words that are baffling. But still I got an A. Yay! Now to go look up "multifarious" and "erudite". (Another rip-off from Paula , who got A+.)

You paid attention during 100% of high school! 85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap! Do you deserve your high school diploma? Create a Quiz By the way, I didn't actually know the answer to every single question, but I made a couple of well-educated (!) guesses. And, silly me, I'm actually quite tickled I got 100%! But I did not pay 100% attention while in high school. Nor did I get straight A's (my grade point average was 3.5). This sentence does not start with a conjunction. (Via Paula )

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more. Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm   Literate Good Citizen   Book Snob   Fad Reader   Non-Reader   What Kind of Reader Are You? I'm a bit surprised at being labelled dedicated. It must be those piles of to-read books I have. I will admit that I get nervous in homes where not a single book - not even a dictionary, cookbook or bible - is visible. I know that some people do not read books at all. Yes, I think there's something wrong with those people. (Initially read on Literate Good Citizen Beep's LiveJournal .)

You are The Star Hope, expectation, Bright promises. The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one. What Tarot Card are You? Take the Test to Find Out. I got this via my friend Sravana who also got the star, too . She picked her card from the Cat People deck. I think the Dragon and the Cat People Star cards are both lovely. For what it's worth, the interpretation for The Star above echos where I'm at right now in my life.

A friend commented that he didn't bother with labels on his blog. And I realized I had forgotten that other choice: No labels. Kind of like there's nothing on TV and you keep switching channels, totally forgetting that other option: The "off" button. So I have removed labels.

My writing hasn't been that frequent lately. Partly due to the Blogger brown-outs, but mostly due to being distracted by other things, and simply busy. It's a good sign if I go shopping, if I want new things and feel good about getting them, because unlike most women, I don't enjoy shopping for clothes and shoes and stuff like that. It takes energy and patience to go try everything on, so the mood has to strike me, and then I'll go. That's why the big purchases all at once. September and October, thought bringing joy in their own right, did have a sneaky non-joy. I noticed that when I started to feel a familiar pain in my chest a few weeks ago. I recognized the signs of a broken heart. The muscles in the front of my chest have been tight and I get winded walking up the hill to my building. But I know what it is: Grief. Grief taking its own sweet time to work its way out of my system. The first time I felt this was when my dear friend Maria died, May of 2000. Tha

New dress for the holidays bought. Wrap-around shape, simple black, long sleeves, below knee in length, and such a low cleavage, I was wondering if I'd fall out. Requires new bra. And some skin care for an area not usually exposes. ;-) Frustrated shopper: Bras hung in such a huge number on the rack in the store, that half a dozen fall off while I'm looking for my size. That got old Real Fast. Frustrated shopper 2: What the heck is my size? These won't keep anything in! And don't you just love that whattle-effect under your own armpits? Reached around for the new package of toilet paper and managed to knock it down and onto the liquid soap dispenser. Soap squirted several feet and onto feet.

Well, they aren't blue suede. They're actually a midnight Gore-Tex(R) . But I'm just so happy to find footwear that slipped onto my feet and didn't pinch, pull, grab, or stab me. They just sat on my feet and let me move around without thinking. So I bought three pairs: One lamb's wool-lined pair of leather boots (not pictured), one pair of bootlets and one pair of slip-on shoes (excellent for going through airport security). Yoga involves the whole body and lately, with the power yoga class I've been taking, my feet have been getting a lot of extra attention: They are bare, their position is important in getting the poses right, they cramp and protest at being moved into possible but unfamiliar positions, and my yoga instructor will grab them in order to adjust a pose. So suddenly my feet have taken on an importance they haven't had before. I look at the shoe-caused crookedness of my toes and feel a bit sorry for what I've put my feet through in the n

OK, that last post can be considered a test run. It updated all the comments, too. And now I can play with tags, too! This post shall get the ubiquitous label "miscellaneous". Or maybe I'll do that in Norwegian: Diverse. Easier to spell.

There is a Norwegian idiomatic phrase, "Vil de ikke så skal de." A joking way of noting how things work with one of the most common natural laws: Stubbornness. Literally translated, the phrase says, "If they won't, they shall." I suspect Blogger of being Norwegian. Or that perhaps its users are. It seems too much of a "coincidence" that after weeks of wonky services and longish outages, that suddenly, everything's in place for everyone to move to Blogger Beta. Even us FTP-ing types. So I did. And dammit, Blogger had better behave now, or I'll get - stubborn or something. (Now, what to do with that WordPress account?)

I was forwarded a bunch of photographs of wonderful paper art in e-mail, artist unknown. Fortunately, there a sentence in the e-mail gave me a clue: "We often complain about the lack of resources -- but what if all you had was a single sheet of paper?" That and Google helped me find the artist. Give yourself a bit of wonder and check out Peter Callesen's wonderful paper cut-outs and other art .

But who needs that kind of drama or trauma or karma?

...I turn 46. Don't know why that feels like a big deal. I guess because it so clearly puts me in that part of being in my forties that is closer to fifty than to forty. I'm looking forward to it. I'm curious. And I'm feeling encouraged. I've been to the company doctor and for the second year in a row, my blood pressure has gone down (and my cholesterol up*), and they say that as we age, our blood pressure tends to increase. Not that I ever followed the crowd, but it is an interesting development. I think part of it is no longer having the stress of taking care of Grandma's apartment and finances, and part of it is the change in attitude I had to make a year ago. I do feel better, in general. I'm also rather enthusiastic about my ashtanga yoga class and how it feels for me. My body, aging and stiff, nevertheless does its best and causes me no pain (surprisingly), which tells me that this kind of yoga is just good for me. I can't imagine being 50, o

Orchid gift at work 2006-11-01    —  Originally uploaded by thinkbigshrinktofit I had yesterday off, but just before leaving work Tuesday, I was given a print job that needed to be delivered out of town by Friday. I decided it wasn't worth delegating, so I made up new masters, printed and cut the job myself and was out of here by 5:30 pm Tuesday (vs. leaving at 4 pm). I must've really impressed my customer because the above orchid plant was waiting for me this morning, on my desk. Now I'm impressed. And very happy.

There is no tradition for Halloween in Norway. Yes, as a pagan holiday, there used to be a celebration that got co-opted by Christianity, but the pumpkin-carving, costume-wearing, trick-or-treating version is new. I care not for the modern version of Halloween, in all its current mass-market plastic glory: In the US, it's become a carneval, where people where any kind of costume, not just scary or witchy ones. In Norway, they make the effort to be scary - and obnoxious. This is the fourth year of trick-or-treating in my neighborhood, and the second time one of my windows has gotten egged. At least I had plenty of soapy warm water on hand, since I happen to be doing the dishes.

In a comment to my post 13 about blogging , Tim says that he never would have guessed I avoid political blogs, and wonders why I do. I'm in a sort of no-man's-land when it comes to politics: 1. I don't live in the US any more and haven't lived there since 1981, and am eligible to vote only in presidential elections as an expatriate who is a permanent resident of a foreign country. So local issues mean nothing to me. Presidential elections are of more interest to me, but not always enough to get me to go through the rigamarole of getting an absentee ballot. After all, my choices are between Tweedledee and Tweedledum from the two reigning parties, and some far more interesting loser (as in won't get enough votes) from an obscure party. 2. As a foreign national living in Norway, I am eligible to vote only in local elections, not national ones. So every four years, I have to make up my mind which of the 8-12 parties I think is the best. Yeah, right. That's whe

Blogger was down all weekend. My post below is back-dated to October 28, which was when I wrote it, but published only today. I don't think it was published correctly, though, because the RSS-feed isn't updated. And now I can't publish this gripe. Grr... Time to make the move to something else, I guess. UPDATE: Finally! My posts have gone through properly, Monday evening local time, and the RSS-feed is updated.

Thursday I flew to Oslo, to attend an "open house" for the printing industry. I went with my boss and a co-worker who's a printer (I'm a graphic designer, in case you were wondering). I have not flown to Oslo since the new airport at Gardermoen opened, about 10 years ago. I also had not flown with the newish Norwegian airline, called - appropriately - Norwegian. Nor had I flown since the new restrictions on hand luggage and safety checks were put into effect this autumn. Business trips are a series of taxis, flights, newspapers, coffees, phone calls, papers, and back again. And the 50 minute flight to Oslo is a sure place to run into other co-workers. We took off in the dark since it was before dawn. We landed in gray and low clouds. My first impression of Gardermoen was that is was typical of the modern style of commercial buildings: A lot of stone floors, accented with warm, narrow-slatted wood walls and skylights. I prefer our local one, with an interior from t

Do you like the look and the contents of your blog? Looks: I'm OK with the Blogger template and my own photo in the header. Contents: See answer to 5. Does your family know about your blog? Yes. Can you tell your friends about your blog? Do you consider it a private thing? Friends were the first I told about my blog. And how can a public webpage be private, anyway? Do you just read the blogs of those who comment on your blog? Or do you try to discover new blogs? Both. Does your blog positively affect your mind? Give an example. I want my blog to reflect the best of me. I don't want it to be a collection of complaints. I have this thing about the written word; it's so permanent, so I want the permanent to be something positive. In that respect, my blog makes me focus on the constructive, on what may be worth reading even when it's no longer fresh. I think you'll see this most clearly in the posts from this past year. What does the number of visitors

Autumn Ortuvann 2006 - 12    —  Originally uploaded by thinkbigshrinktofit When I was a kid, I didn't like autumn. Autumn meant gray skies, gray trees, gray ground. I was well and truly adult before I discovered that the gray comes between autumn and winter. Autumn itself is color: Bright, brilliant, contrasting, changing. Last year's September and October were rough for me; this year's were also. September was Grandma's birth month, and October Grandpa's. Autumn became, last year, a season of emptiness, of everything dying, never to return. After a shaky start, this autumn is turning into a season of peace and wonder. It doesn't feel like death. It is merely change. A change with so much wonder and subtleties and beauty that it lifts any spirit. No more needing to worry about the future. As sure as there are trees losing leaves, there will be trees sprouting new ones. The days are shortening, but they are also heading for the turn, the solstice, the march towar

HowManyOfMe.com There are: 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name? According to HowManyOfMe.com, there are zero people in the US with the first name "Keera", and 158,983 people with the last name "Fox". (Taken from beep .)

I have a LiveJournal blog. I don't use it; it's just there so I don't have to leave anonymous comments on friends' LiveJournals. As a lark, I used a LiveJournal-oriented Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test to see what level of reading comprehension my little post would require. Here is the result: kafox's Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 12 Average number of words per sentence: 16.17 Average number of syllables per word: 1.77 Total words in sample: 97 Analyze your journal! Username: Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern And here's the text of my LiveJournal post that only a high school senior can read and understand: "I got tired of being anonymous This ain't my blog or anything. I just got tired of being anonymous when commenting on friends' LiveJournals, so I signed up. If you really want to find me, check out my homepage home.online.no/~kafox/ or my blog home.online.no/~kafox/blogfiles/."

12102006-Mollerdalselven    —  Originally uploaded by thinkbigshrinktofit It's been quite a week, starting with two days sick and off work, computer problems (still), and last night I dreamt I was in a plane crash. Where to start. Well, being sick wasn't serious, and definitely due to psychological stuff, and the rest (avoidance) did me some good (also turned out that a guilty conscience about not sending one finished job to the printers wasn't necessary as the job wasn't finished after all; I came back to corrections). I needed a better attitude and went back to work with a new approach. (Co-worker problems.) Upgrading the OS on the computer at work proved to be pre-mature since we have to interface with some pretty old systems elsewhere and the newest OS wasn't having that. It's not only finally autumn (I wore gloves yesterday), but also that time of year when new calendars come out. This time I bought a Moleskine 18-month diary. Yeah, moving away from the hi

What I saw waiting for the bus    —  Originally uploaded by thinkbigshrinktofit The norm for autumn in this part of the world is driving rain. It's "slash-and-drench". I had a number of parcels to lug home from shopping today, and had managed to find a seat in the bus shelter. The pictures shows the view I had. The woman in a black coat in front of me had a rucksack purse, and the edging on a zipper pocket had turned up, allowing a little bit of water to pool on her purse. That held my fascination for a while, making my wait nearly zen. People variously had umbrellas or nothing, and were variously more or less dry or more or less wet. Quietly they stood still, or quietly they chatted, waiting for a gas-fueled chance to get out of the rain. It was more hushed than on a sunny day - like a low-pressure system means low-key behavior. I too was waiting, sitting in my red rubber boots, parcels on my lap piled to my chin, and realized that I actually enjoyed this. The rain

New coffee maker    —  Originally uploaded by thinkbigshrinktofit I was in the store looking for a space heater come winter and saw this cute little thing. "Is that an espresso maker or just a regular coffee maker?" The answer was that it was a regular coffee maker with a capacity of two cups. Perfect for single me! When I got home, I went shopping for coffee. I had a coffee meme recently , and was reminded of one of the questions ("Do you have complicated taste?"), as I browsed the shelf for filter coffee. I saw a green bag of organically grown coffee. Yes, definitely! And then immediately saw the Max Havelaar brand of coffee, a "fair trade" brand that means more money to the coffee grower, not the middleman. Choices, choices. I went with Max Havelaar. If I don't like it, I'll try the organically grown next time. My second choice of coffee was Swiss chocolate and mint, which is what's in my souvenier mug from San Francisco now as I type. I